Gas-generator.



No. 746,818. I PATENTED DEC. 15, 1903. N. GOODYEAR. GAS GENERATOR.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 24, 1901.

I0 MODEL. SSHEBTS-SHEBT 1- WITNESSES PATENTED 112045, 1903- N. GOODYEAR.

GAS GENERATOR.

APPLIUATIONHLED JUNE 24, 1901.

3 SHEETS-SHEET N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES No. 746,818. PATENTED DEC. 15, 1903.,

N. GOODYEAR,

GAS GENERATOR.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24; 1901.

s SHEETS-SHEET a.

N0 MODEL.

WI TNE SSE 8 UNITED STATES Patented December 15, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

NELSON GOODYEAR, or FLUSHlNG, NEW YORK, AssIcNoR TO J. B. 001.1

COMPANY,AOORPORATIONJOFNEW YORK.

GAS-GENEBATQR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No." 746,818, dated December '15, 1903.

Application filed June 24,1901. Serial No. 65,812. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NELSON GOODYEAR, residing at and whose post-office address is Flushing, Long Island, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and usefuli Improvements in Gas-Generators, (Case 13,) ofwhich the following is a specification accompanied by drawings.

and regulation may be accom plished in a more perfect, satisfactory, and safe manner than has heretofore been possible and at the same time to effect economy and simplification in the construction of the apparatus.

The nature of the several improvements will be apparent from the following description and the claims.

The invention is particularly useful in the present state of the art for acetylene-generators of the type in which carbid is fed into water. For this reason the improvements will be described as adapted to such use.

The improvements relate particularly to the carbid-feeding mechanism, to means for flushing out the generating chamber and emptying and refilling it, means for stirring the sediment in the bottom of the chamber, means for preventing the formation of floating islands in the generating-chamber,and a floating gastrap for the gas-pipe connecting the generating chamber with the gasometerchamber.

In the drawings, Figure 1 isv an elevation;

Fig. 2, a central section, some of the parts,-

however, being shownin full; Fig. 3, a plan view showing the right-hand portion partly in horizontal section on the planes 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Figs. 4 and 5 are views on a larger scale of certain details.

The gasometer selected for illustration is of the type having a rising and falling watersealed bell 20, fitting within the stationary lower member 21. The c'arbid-hopper 23 may preferably be carried upon a stationary bell 24, which is water-sealedin the water-holding vessel 25. ism is controlled by the expansion and con- The cai-bid feeding mechantuated by the expansible gas-holderas, for

example, by means of a link 40. The parts 36 37 38 form adjustable means for actuating the valve until thecarbid is exhausted. Then they automatically disconnect the valve from the gas-"holder or gasometer, renderingit inoperativeand permittingthe gasometer then to be utilized :for operating another generating apparatus, for which purpose the gasometer may be provided with a link 140, Fig. 2, corresponding to the link 40 and adapted to be connected to a lever 139, similar to tlielever 39,-.which belongs to another generating apparatus. The sector 38 is adjustably pinned,

as at 41, to the lever 39 and carries a pin 43, which engages and operates the lever 37. By removing the pin 41 and adjusting the sector 38 to bring the pin-hole 42 to the position of :the pin 41 the operating-pin 43 is brought to the position indicated in dotted lines, Fig.

4, and will consequently not engage the lever 3'1v until the gasometer is at a much lower position, which is equivalent in some respects to lengthening the link 40 and which enables being brought successively into operation as the carbid is exhausted in the preceding generating mechanism.

In order that the mechanism may be renderedinoperative by the-fall of the gas-bell '20 beyond a predetermined limit, the lever 37 is fulcrumed at a diliierent point above the lever 39, so thatthe drawing down of the lever39 will cause the pin 43 to clear the end of the lever 37, allowing the carbid-feeding valve 30 to close of its own weight and freeing the lever 37 entirely from the pin 43. In order that the subsequent rise of the pin 43 may not be stopped. by the pin striking beneath the lever 37, the lever 37 isnot rigidly I the generating mechanism to be used in conjunction with similar mechanisms, each one" connected with the arm 36, but is free to move in an upward direction without actuating the.

arm 36. This may be accomplished by providing the lever with an engaging ear 45, which strikes against an engaging portion 46 of the lever 36 when the lever 37 is depressed, but which can move freely in the other direction when the lever 37 is raised by the pit 43, as just described.

The valve 30, link 33, and arm 32 are protected from the carbid by a continuous interior casing 49, as shown, which extends down nearly to the valve-opening and protects the valve from the direct pressure of the entire mass of carbid.

Beneath the hopper the wall of the generator preferably flares downward and outward, as shown at 50, and is continued internally in a depending sleeve 51, which extends down several inches beneath the waterlevel in the generating-chamber. The sleeve is perforated with one or more small openings 151, which permit the gas to pass out but materially restrict its passage, so that when carbid falls into the water the sudden generation of gas within the sleeve 51 will force the water-level down within the sleeve before the gas has time to escape from the sleeve through the small openings. Within the sleeve is a sieve or grid 52, of very coarse mesh, located at such a height that the waterlevel will rise and fall through the grid and in this way prevent the accumulation of floating carbid residue and the formation of a floating island. The grid 52 therefore forms means of breaking the surface film of the water at frequent intervals.

For the purpose of stirring up the lime or sediment in the bottom of the vessel 25 a set of rotary stirring-arms 55, turned by a shaft 56, are mounted near the bottom of the vessel 25. The shaft 56 extends up through the wall of the generating-chamber and terminates in an operating-handle 57. To prevent the escape of gas and avoid the necessity of employing packing around the shaft 56, a tube or sleeve 58, having gas-tight connection with the wall of the generating-chamber and extending down, so as to be water-sealed, is provided. A cup 59, turning with the shaft 56, surrounds the lower end of the tube 58 and prevents bubbles of gas from rising into and escaping from the tube 58.

A'lime-cock or flush-out cock is shown at 65, and the bottom of the chamber 25 should slope downward to the flush-out. When the water is being let out, air is admitted through the water-sealed pipe 66, which extends down below the lowest normal working level of the water in the vessel 25. This pipe may lead to a suitable point outside to prevent odor when the air and gas escape during refilling.

The water-supply pipe 67, communicating, as at 68, Fig. 2, with the interior of the tank 25, is provided with a controlling-valve 69, operated by a handle or lever 70. An airoutlet valve 71, connected by pipe 72 with the gas-.pipes 73 74, leading from the generating-chamber to the gasometer, is connected bya link 75, so as to open and close with the water-valve 69. Consequently when the water-inlet valve is open to refill the .tank the air escapes freely from the generating-chamber-through the pipes 73 and 72 and air-valve 71 until the desired water-level is reached and the water-valve closed simultaneously with the air-valve 71.

Gas is supplied to the gasometer from the pipes 73 and 74 by horizontal and vertical pipes 76 and 77, 78 and 79 being similar pipes for connecting another generating apparatus. Surrounding the upper end of the pipe 77 is a floating trap 80,which should be so weighted that its sealing-flange 82 extends down into the water within the gasometer two or three inches at least, so that the gas in passing from the pipe 77 into the gasometer will have to break the seal in passing under the flange 82. Consequently the gas-pressure in the gasometer will be correspondingly less than in the generating-chamber. When for any reason the gas-pressure in the generatingchamber is reduced, the trap sinks and prevents the backflow of the gas from the gasometer to the generating-chamber. The gaseducting pipe or service-pipe 85, Fig. 3, from the gasometer preferably leads out at right angles to the pipes 76 and 78. These three pipes are braced and connected together by being rigidly connected by a central connection 86, plugged, closed, or solid.

The safety blow-0E for the gasometer may be of the telescopic character, consisting of the internally-fixed member 87 and the external member 88,which latter rises and falls with the gasometer and is normally watersealed, as shown. The pipe 87 and its horizontal connection 89, leading to the pipe 90, open to atmospheric pressure, may also be secured to and supported by the brace or pipe cross 86, as shown in Fig. 3.

Pipes 74, 85, and 89 are all provided with water-filled drain-pipes 92, leading into the drain-trap 93,which may be closed at the top, as shown, and connected by a pipe 94 with the outer air. An overflow-pipe 95, rising to about the level of the gas-pipe 74, is provided to allow the excess of water to pass out of the drain-trap 93. If the drain-pipes 92 extend down, say, eight inches below the level of the pipe 74 before entering the draintrap 93 a pressure in excess of eight inches within the pipe 74 will of course break the seal and allow the gas to escape by way of the drain-pipe and pipe 94. If, on the other hand, a vacuum should form within the generating-chamber, the water would be sucked up into the pipe 73, so as to entirely seal the pipe 73 and prevent the gas being sucked back from the gasometer under the trap 80 through the pipe 77. The relatively great area of the drain-trap 93 as compared with the gas-pipes 73 and 74 permits the necessary ICO - the hopper having a rock-shaftbearing, of a amount of-water to be drawn up in the pipe 73 to accomplish this result without-materially lowering the water-level in the draintrap.

In my 01 her application,(Case A,) filed June 24,1901, Serial No. 65,811 I have claimed some of the features shown in this specification.

The construction of the mechanical stirrer and of the drain-trap and the gas-pipe trap being proper subject for a divisional application are not in themselves the subjectmatter of this application.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent issued on the present specification, are the following characteristic featnres:

1. In a gas-generator, the combination with rock-shaft mounted therein and extending from the interior of the hopper to the exterior, an interiorcasing mounted within the hopper, a rockshaft lever-arm within the interior casing and actuated by the rock-shaft, a valve connected to be operated by said lever-arm, mechanism exterior to the casing for turning the said rock-shaft to control the valve, adjustable connections between the said mechanism and the rock-shaft, and means for disengaging said connections at a predetermined point in the movement of the rock-shaft, for substantially the purposes set forth.

2. In combination in the carbid-feeding mechanism ofacarbid-feed gas-generator and operative connections therefor, means for automatically throwing the said connections permanently out of operative relation when the parts have passeda predetermined position, whereby said parts may not again assume operative relations when they return to said'pred etermined position, for substantially the purposes set forth.

3. In combination in the carbid-feeding mechanism of a gas-generator, an operatinglever, a lever operated thereby and connected to actuate the feeding mechanism, and an adjustable means of engagementbetween said levers, whereby the position of the first said lever necessary to cause feeding may be changed at will, for substantially the purposes set forth.

4. The combination in the feeding mechanism of a gas-generator, an operating-lever, a second lever operated thereby and connected to actuate the feeding mechanism, the fulcrum of which is not coaxial with that of said operating-lever,and engaging means between the said levers for actuating the second lever up to a certain position-and releasing it when said position is reached, for substantially the purposes set forth.

5. In combination with the feeding mechanism of a gas-generator, and with one lever that is adapted to be actuated by the gas generated and another arm or lever that is connected to move with the valve or feeding device, of operative connections between the said levers, and means for disengaging said operative connections when the first said lever reaches a predetermined limit, for substantially the pn rposes set forth.

Signed this 19th day of June, 1901, at New York.

NELSON GOODYEAR.

Witnesses:

E. VAN ZANDT, H. S. .MORTON. 

